His parents, Hannah-Louise, 23, and William Quayle, 25, knew that something was wrong with their son, Spencer, at their 20 week scan when they saw an abnormality but nothing prepared them for the weeks of worry while sat at their son's side.

Spencer was diagnosed with bladder exstrophy, a congenital abnormality where the skin over the lower part of the stomach does not form properly.

He also has a hernia, slightly larger kidneys and has suffered jaundice.

The couple took Spencer to an appointment at Great Ormond Street Hospital on July 23 but didn't expect him to be admitted straight away so they were left in London with no belongings.

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Mrs Quayle, who is a waitress, said: "It has been a very tough few weeks for us. We have been by his side and once he had his operation on August 3. It was then a case of seeing how well he recovered.

"The operation was really upsetting to go through. The epidural didn't work properly and he needed to have morphine every half an hour which meant he would start screaming in agony every time it was done and it was just horrible to watch.

Spencer in hospital

"We couldn't cuddle him for 48 hours we were absolutely terrified of hurting him even more."

A few days after the operation, Spencer started to return to his normal self and Mr and Mrs Quayle were over the moon to see him start smiling again.

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Mrs Quayle said: "We had been in London for weeks and then we got told we could be transferred back to QMC which was amazing news. We had been living in London -basically by his bed side - for so long.

"We had to wait for a bed to become free at QMC but once we found out there was one available we were transferred straight over. It was great to be closer to home."

On August 23, Spencer was discharged from QMC and allowed to return home with his parents, who said they felt "ecstatic".

Mum Hannah Quayle, 23, and Dad William Quayle, 25 with Spencer who is 13-weeks-old

Mr Quayle, who is a chef, said: "This has been such a tough time, when you're a parent all you want to do is look after and protect your child and we felt this was so out of our control we had to just follow the advice of doctors and be there for him at hospital.